Falling in between were the and the . The results from these two tablets were close, although in our detail shot the G-Slate appeared to have slightly better detail and color balance despite its tendency toward a greenish cast. The Transformer offered a great angle of view (which we expected given that it has an IPS display), and it did a reasonable job of reproducing browns, but its reproduction of reds was off-base.

The consistently landed at the bottom. As with the Xoom, you can see the touch-panel grid on the Iconia Tab, but in this case it's clearly visible pretty much any way you hold the tablet, making the grid a viewing annoyance at best and a deterrent at worst. Running the Android 3.1 update, the Iconia Tab struggled with reproducing skin tones and browns, and it tended to give a slightly bluish tint to images.

As I mentioned at the outset, some of the questions surrounding displays are hard to pin down. So much about how an image looks can be tweaked in software. Even more can happen in subpixel rendering, or in aggressive software algorithms aimed at optimizing the image (I've seen some hints of how this approach can work in the upcoming ). But some issues, such as angle of view and high reflectivity, are physical in nature, and as a result no software fix can address them.

All of the tablets we've seen, including the ones with IPS displays, have angle-of-view limitations--some are worse than others. And all of them have an air gap between the glass and the LCD layer beneath; that gap increases reflectivity, which causes the mirror effect that makes tablets terrible for use in bright sunlight. (The sole exception is not marketed primarily as a tablet: employs a bonding process that minimizes, but doesn't eliminate, reflections.)